Compositions applied as a thick film paste are used in sealing sheets of glass in the manufacture of devices such as electronic displays. As described in sources such as    Alpha, Glass Sealing Technologies for Displays, Optics and Laser Technology, 8, 259-264 (1976); Kwon et al, Plasma Display Panel Vacuum In-line Sealing Technology by Using Bubble-reduced Frit, J. Vacuum Sci. and Technology, A, 21, 206-211 (2003); and Korczynski, Manufacturing Emissive Displays, Solid State Technology, 51, 54-56 (1999),current compositions require organic vehicle burnout by firing in air at about 350° C. or higher, followed by sintering of glass frit at 430° C. or higher in nitrogen containing 10 to 1000 ppm of oxygen, and more typically 500 to 1000 ppm oxygen. Air firing has typically been required for burnout of the organic vehicle being used. It does not appear that the organic vehicles used in these compositions were functionally fugitive in the absence of oxygen, nor could they burn out in oxygen at lower temperatures.
A need thus remains for sealing compositions that can be fired at lower temperatures, and this invention thus provides such compositions comprising organic vehicles that may be removed at lower temperatures in air or inert atmosphere. It has been found that lowering the firing temperature, or the use of an inert atmosphere, reduces the potential for oxidation of other components of the device, which are subject to the firing cycle along with the sealing composition.